A federal judge delivered a victory to the clean energy sector on Dec. 8, striking down a Trump administration executive order that stalled numerous projects and banned approvals of new wind farms.
Bloomberg reported on U.S. District Judge Patti Saris' determination that the order was "arbitrary and capricious and contrary to law." Several states were involved in the effort to overturn the order, and clean energy advocates celebrated the ruling.
"The administration should use this as a wake-up call, stop its illegal actions, and get out of the way of the expansion of renewable energy," Natural Resources Defense Council managing director Kit Kennedy said, per Bloomberg.
During his second term as president, Donald Trump has led the charge to shut down many clean energy projects while propping up fossil fuels. It's no surprise that this executive order was one of his first issued upon his return to office.
Trump's attitude toward energy is in stark contrast to his predecessor, Joe Biden, who used the Inflation Reduction Act to invest in green energy projects, as Bloomberg noted. After this loss in court, the Trump administration maintained its position that offshore wind projects shouldn't proceed despite going through an extensive approval process.
"Under Joe Biden's Green New Scam, offshore wind projects were given unfair, preferential treatment," White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers wrote in a statement.
In addition to contributing to lower electric bills, clean energy is essential to combating the dangerous warming of the planet, offering pollution-free power. Stopping wind projects can hinder efforts to prevent the worst impacts of reliance on dirty energy, such as oil and gas. It also damages the energy mix at a time when data centers are putting unprecedented strain on the grid.
This ruling also has the potential for spurring job growth. An assortment of new jobs can emerge through the wind energy sector if these projects are allowed to begin. That remains up in the air. For instance, the Trump administration seems highly unlikely to issue approvals for new offshore wind projects.
Along those lines, energy think tank ClearView Energy Partners took a less optimistic view of the ruling.
"We view the ruling as positive for offshore wind proponents, but we are not convinced the decision sufficiently supplants the actions the Trump administration has taken to constrain offshore wind," the company wrote in a statement obtained by Bloomberg.
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